The Blue Gecko portfolio addresses the largest, fastest-growing low-power wireless connectivity opportunity in the IoT market. According to IHS Technology, Bluetooth Smart will represent 42 percent of the total low-power wireless module and chipset market by unit volume in 2018. A significant number of Bluetooth Smart chipsets are currently used in wireless modules to meet the needs of low-volume IoT applications, greatly simplifying RF design. By the end of the decade, the use of cost-effective Bluetooth Smart chipsets and wireless SoCs is expected to outpace modules as many IoT applications reach higher volumes. Silicon Labs’ Blue Gecko portfolio provides developers with the flexibility to begin development with modules and transition to SoCs when needed with little to no system redesign.

“Our new Blue Gecko portfolio gives developers a rapid on-ramp to the IoT, enabling them to bring Bluetooth Smart-enabled products to market quickly while maintaining their investments in tools and software as they migrate from modules to chips for later production,” said James Stansberry, senior vice president and general manager of IoT products at Silicon Labs. “Our Bluegiga acquisition provided a best-of-breed scripting language and protocol stack that we’re leveraging in our Blue Gecko portfolio, making it easy to add Bluetooth Smart connectivity to countless IoT applications.”

Blue Gecko Wireless SoCs

The first in a family of wireless SoCs optimized for IoT applications, Blue Gecko SoCs combine Silicon Labs’ energy-friendly EFM32® Gecko MCU technology with an ultra-low-power Bluetooth Smart transceiver. This innovative, single-die solution provides industry-leading energy efficiency, the fastest wake-up times, superior RF sensitivity and no-compromise MCU features combined with the Bluegiga Bluetooth Smart software stack to help developers reduce system power, cost and time to market. Unlike other Bluetooth Smart IC alternatives, a Blue Gecko SoC can transmit +10 dBm or higher output power with its fully integrated power amplifier and balun, further reducing design complexity.

Blue Gecko SoCs are based on the ARM® Cortex®-M3 and M4 cores and offer 128 to 256 kB flash sizes and 16 to 32 kB RAM sizes. The SoCs integrate an array of low-energy peripherals as well as Silicon Labs’ Peripheral Reflex System (PRS) for autonomous peripheral operation. The Blue Gecko SoC family also offers a roadmap of enhanced flash and RAM memory sizes and additional package options to meet future application needs.